207th Week Update - Miles Neighborhood Food Collection Project

Hi Folks,

A Kind Word for Everyone … all 136 of them

Councilman Richard Fimbres and Peter
Photo by Mary Fimbres

If you’ve been keeping up with Councilman Richard Fimbres’ professional and well designed monthly newsletter you know he and his team have been very busy attracting big time businesses here to Ward 5. Due to their tireless efforts we now have Costco, Wal-Mart and Curacao just down the road a piece which really does mean jobs … jobs … jobs.

So to watch Councilman Fimbres display some of his charm during the Recognition Ceremony at the Annual Ward 5 Holiday Partly was a pure delight. Malinda Jacobs, Council Administrative Assistant, held the large stack of award certificate folders and read off the names quietly to Councilman Fimbres. He repeated the name in a more robust fashion, not to dissimilar to an operatic tenor warming up.

After a name was called out, the individual stepped forward to receive a certificate, a hand shake and a Tucson medallion. During the exchange, Councilman Fimbres said a few words about that person’s contribution to the community. What soon became apparent is Councilman Fimbres knew every one of the 136 honoree and had a tidbit of personal information about each of them to share with the audience.

“We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community… Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.”

-- Cesar Chavez   Quote published on the cover of the Ward 5 Awards pamphlet.

Amazing. That had to be some kind of magic trick or he has an incredible memory. While I munched on some wonderful medium rare roast beef, a gentleman standing next to me couldn’t quite get my name right but he knew who I was. “I read you blog,” he said. I remembered meeting him, too, but I had no idea why I know him.

This foggy recollection process is perfectly normal. Two people meet again after some time passes and they have to state a number of things like names, places and jobs to recall information out of the memory vault. However, what Councilman Fimbres was doing—instantly remembering bios as if he just had lunch with them—was phenomenal, magical and quite entertaining.

When he runs for office again he should be elected in a landslide. Not because he brings jobs and businesses to the neighborhood. That’s significant but Councilman Fimbres does something that is even more important. He makes each of his constituents feel that what they do matters.


Donations on the Rise

A couple of weeks ago we learned that the economy was improving at the Rincon Market and coincidentally around the country. This week the Rincon Market set a new donation record of $215.50, well above the previous $160.00 mark.

Another new development at the Rincon Market is the complete remodeling of the grocery department. Stop by and check it out. If you are into wines, you’ll love the greatly expanded selection and there is soon to be a whole new specialty food area.

Things are moving forward for the Abbott Family and it couldn't happen to nicer, more thoughtful folks.

Outside Pitching In

As I wrote about in an earlier post, my friends John and Heidi who live in Ventana Canyon donate one or more of those large Costco food packages nearly every week. In an effort to highlight their efforts, I place their donation in the upper right hand corner resting against the cart handle. (It’s cans and peanut butter this week.)

Now Dr. Su-Wen Chang, my dentist, and his staff are donating to our Miles One Can A Week program. Of course, they have to be recognized, too, but since they give such a variety of food, I decided to mark the occasion with a very toothy Smiley Face somewhere in the photo.

We collected a total of 294 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $36.00, a $25.00 check and $11.00 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter